Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend's home. PHOTO: REUTERS

DAMASCUS: A Syrian air force general was assassinated in northern Damascus, state television reported on Tuesday, blaming the killing on “terrorist groups.”

“As part of their campaign to target national personalities and scientists, armed terrorist groups assassinated Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi in the Damascus district of Rukn al-Din,” the broadcaster said.

“He was one of Syria’s foremost experts in aviation,” it said, adding that he was a father of four children.

The general was a member of the Syrian Air Force command, a security source in Damascus told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend’s home, the source added.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad routinely refers to rebels fighting to overthrow it as terrorists.

Since late July, air force fighter jets and helicopters have played a key role in the war against rebels.

On Tuesday alone, fierce air strikes hit targets in Damascus province, the northwestern province of Idlib and the central province of Homs, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.